The Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Edobei - After Tōshūsai Sharaku

Artist: After Tōshūsai Sharaku (active 1794–1795)

Title: The Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Edobei

Original Design Date: 1794

Impression: 20th-century Japanese reprint

Medium: Japanese color woodblock print

Format: Ōban tate-e

Paper Size: 12.75 X 8.5 in

This Japanese woodblock print is a later reprint of Tōshūsai Sharaku’s celebrated 1794 portrait The Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Edobei, one of the most recognizable actor prints in the history of ukiyo-e. The original is held in major museum collections, including the Tokyo National Museum, where it is designated an Important Cultural Property.

Sharaku depicts the kabuki actor Ōtani Oniji III playing Edobei, a villainous servant in the play Koi Nyōbō Somewake Tazuna, performed at the Kawarasaki theater in Edo in May 1794. Edobei leans forward with his hands spread dramatically across his chest, his narrowed eyes, exaggerated eyebrows, and clenched expression immediately communicating the character’s scheming personality. The Tokyo National Museum identifies the moment as Edobei attempting to rob the character Ippei.

The composition is a classic example of Sharaku’s unconventional approach to actor portraiture. Rather than flattering famous performers, Sharaku exaggerated their distinctive facial features and gestures, creating portraits that feel simultaneously theatrical and psychologically acute. Against the dark mica-style background, Edobei’s pale face and hands become especially dramatic, while the striped costume provides a strong geometric contrast.

Inscriptions & Marks:

• Title: The Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Edobei
• Artist of Original Design: Tōshūsai Sharaku
• Original Design Date: May 1794
• Subject: Ōtani Oniji III in the role of Edobei
• Play: Koi Nyōbō Somewake Tazuna
• Right inscription: 東洲斎写楽画 複製 — identifying the image as a reproduction after a design by Tōshūsai Sharaku
• Publisher: Yūyūdō (悠々洞)
• Impression: Later Japanese reprint
• Technique: Color woodblock print
• Background: Dark gray/silver-toned ground

Condition: Very Good. Full margins with light toning and minor handling wear consistent with age. Small scattered surface marks and minor edge wear are visible, including a small area of discoloration/marking along the right edge. Colors remain strong, with crisp black linework and good contrast against the gray background. Please review the photographs carefully, as they form part of the condition description.

About the Artist: Tōshūsai Sharaku is one of the most mysterious and celebrated artists in the history of ukiyo-e. Virtually nothing certain is known about his life. He appeared suddenly in Edo in 1794, produced an extraordinary group of actor portraits, and disappeared from the historical record less than a year later. His surviving output consists largely of kabuki actors portrayed with an unusually direct and sometimes almost caricatural attention to their individual features. Instead of idealizing performers, Sharaku emphasized their expressions, gestures, and physical peculiarities, producing some of the most psychologically compelling portraits of the Edo period.

About the Print: The Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Edobei was created in 1794 during the remarkable first phase of Sharaku’s extremely brief career. The original was a luxurious ōkubi-e, or large-head actor portrait, printed with a dark mica background. The actor’s claw-like hands and intense expression have made the composition one of Sharaku’s defining images and one of the most widely reproduced works of Japanese art. The original design dates to the Edo period; this particular sheet is a later Japanese woodblock reprint and is being sold as such, rather than as an original 1794 impression.